Mail Truck Robbery of $2 Million in Stuns Massachusetts Officials

Aug. 14, 1962 - Four men, two carrying submachine guns, robbed a mail truck in Massachusetts tonight. Detective Lieut. Joseph Simmons said the best estimate at this time was that they had escaped with $2 million. The truck was held up on the Route 3 bypass at Plymouth by one of the men, who was wearing a policeman’s uniform. The money consisted of bank deposits from Cape Cod being taken to the Federal Reserve Bank in Boston. Before the two-man truck crew could use their weapons, two men stuck submachine guns into the truck cab. They leaped into the truck, tied up the guards, and tossed them into the rear of the vehicle. Four automobiles were used by the thieves. Two of them were found abandoned near the Plymouth County House of Correction. The other two cars trailed the truck as the armed pair drove it to Randolph, 25 miles north of Plymouth. Near the junction of Routes 128 and 28, the robbers abandoned the truck and drove away in the 2 cars that had followed them from Plymouth. The driver, Philip Schena, and the guard, Patrick Barrett, freed themselves after the robbers fled and flagged down a passing cab to give the alarm. The two men were questioned by agents of the F.B.I. and postal inspectors. In size, organization, and boldness, the crime resembled the 1950 hold-up of the Brinks office in Boston, which netted $1,218,211 in cash and more in securities. Eight men received life sentences for theat hold-up, but less than $100,000 was recovered.#crime #robbery #boston